| from the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Union Leaders Charged With Stealing Funds By BARBARA ROSS Daily News Staff Writer Three municipal union leaders representing District Council 37 workers in city health facilities, parks and zoos were charged yesterday with stealing thousands of dollars from their members. The highest ranking of the three was Helen Greene, the president of Local 768 of the health services employees union who also held positions on the DC 37 board and the board of the national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employes. Greene, 58, of Jackson Heights, Queens, was charged with stealing $8,600 by using union credit cards for personal expenses that included a $780 restaurant tab for her son's 1996 wedding rehearsal dinner. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said Greene stated on union forms that the charge went to pay for a dinner for retirees. Greene was the last ally on DC 37's board of former union chief Stanley Hill, who resigned in disgrace in December 1998 after dozens of leaders in his unions were indicted. Assistant District Attorney Jane Tully said that to date, 39 people have pleaded guilty or been convicted in the DC 37 scandal. Thirty were union leaders. The other two officials indicted were Peter Carosella, the former treasurer of Local 299, which represents parks workers, and Laura Greco, former treasurer of zoo workers Locals 299 and 1501. Carosella, 37, is accused of stealing almost $80,000 by submitting bogus restaurant receipts. Prosecutors said he was caught after purchasing a book of receipts from a stationery store and filing the lot of them — with consecutive numbers stamped on each. Greco, 40, of College Point, was charged with stealing more than $8,500 in 1997 by issuing herself checks and using her local's credit card for payment of her E-ZPass bill, sporting goods and clothes. She represents security guards in city zoos. Original Publication Date4/26/01 |